


Palate Cleanser

by RagingLethargy (raginglethargy)



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Ana's nice but no thank you, Episode Fix-it, Fluff, M/M, Really hoping this is a red herring, We've still got a whole season ahead of us
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:13:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29658771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raginglethargy/pseuds/RagingLethargy
Summary: Sometimes you just need a palate cleanser before you get to the good stuff.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 303





	Palate Cleanser

**Author's Note:**

> No offense to Ana or to the actress who plays her, but no thank you unless this is just a step in the direction of Buck and Eddie getting together. Episode fix-it. Technically follows 4x06, but timeline is probably like a month later. Assumes Albert doesn't live with Buck anymore.

It’s late when Buck wakes up to a heavy presence climbing into bed with him. Which should be alarming since he can’t remember the last time he shared a bed with someone, and even then it wasn’t the type of relationship where she would just show up in the middle of the night. Ali never even had a key to his place.

Before Buck turns over, he knows it’s Eddie. Not only because he’s one of the few people with a key, but because he’s familiar with that atmospheric change that happens when Eddie is around. 

Christopher is asleep downstairs on the couch, but Buck certainly hadn’t been expecting Eddie. He was supposed to be on a fourth date with Ana. Buck had offered to take Christopher for the night in case Eddie and Ana wanted some alone time. So even though Eddie’s expression is unreadable as ever, even for Buck who likes to think he can read Eddie better than most, Buck figures the night didn’t go well.

“What happened?” Buck asks, knowing Eddie will fill the space with whatever information he feels comfortable sharing. It’s better not to ask pointed questions when Eddie’s feeling vulnerable, which Buck suspects is the case here.

Eddie shrugs. “Nothing. Just wasn’t right.”

“And you didn’t want to take advantage of having the house to yourself?”

“No.” And somehow that one word managed to express a multitude of things. Eddie sounded resigned, content, happy, nervous, hopeful, all at once. 

“So next time, then?”

“Not gonna be a next time.”

“What? Why?” Buck truly doesn’t understand. From what he can tell, Ana is accomplished, beautiful, kind, and even gets along with Christopher, even if Eddie hadn’t yet told Christopher he was seeing Ana. But Ms. Flores had been one of Christopher’s favorite teachers at the time. Or at least he had seemed to enjoy her class a lot.

“Just wasn’t right.”

“But you went through the whole thing. Letting yourself move on, accepting that Shannon’s death didn’t mean you had to be alone forever, allowing yourself room to be happy. You did all the work.”

“I guess it’s kind of like Ali.”

“What?” From what Buck can tell, Ana and Ali have very little in common.

“Choosing to date Ali instead of continue your old patterns with Taylor Kelly was necessary for you to become Buck 2.0. She wasn’t the one for you, but it was probably better that way because if you had met the right person at that time, you probably would have screwed it up.”

“Hey!”

Eddie ignores Buck’s indignation and continues, “You were still learning what you wanted and what you needed. Ali wasn’t the right person for you. She was kind of like a rebound or palate cleanser. Someone nice and fun to make good decisions with. But ultimately not a life partner.”

“When did you get so knowledgeable about relationships, anyway?”

“Been talking to Bobby. And Frank a little.”

“I thought you didn’t click with Frank,” Buck says pointedly. 

Eddie knows exactly what Buck’s implying. “So…maybe I wasn’t being honest with Frank.”

“Like I said.”

“Like you said.” Eddie reaches over to push Buck’s hair back. It gets messy and falls into his face at the end of the day after he’s showered but before he’s styled it the next morning. “And I realized I didn’t want Christopher to grow up not knowing how to be open and honest.”

“He shouldn’t have to grow up thinking his dad is lonely, either.”

“That’s just the thing. I’m not lonely.”

“Friends are great. Believe me, I know. But it’s different from having your own family. Your support system there with you every day. I know that, too.”

“I know you do.” Eddie lays his hand on Buck’s. It’s not entirely unprecedented, but Buck can feel the tension and the heat in it. Something’s happening, but he’s not sure what. He has a feeling Eddie does, and he wishes he’d let Buck in on it.

“Eddie?”

“I needed to date Ana in order to get over any guilt I had about Shannon’s death. I had to work through that first.”

“First? What’s second?”

“This.” Eddie leans in and kisses Buck like it’s the most natural thing in the world and Buck supposes it is.

The kiss doesn’t last long. Just enough to tell Buck everything he needs to know. He and Eddie have always been like that. They’ve never needed very many words to understand each other.

Like how even with all of his insecurities, Buck knows that tomorrow he’ll start slowly moving his things over to Eddie’s house and spend all of his nights there and eventually they’ll make everything official and Buck will have everything he always wanted but never knew he could have.

But for tonight, they’ll just hold tight and be happy they have each other.


End file.
